The University of North Florida ceremonially began work on the extension and updates to the Coggin College of Business with a groundbreaking Oct. 21.
The building addition will provide additional classrooms, research labs and space for the College of Business’ more than 3,000 students and 100 faculty members and staff.
“UNF graduates are executives and other vital employees in almost every major company in this region. These updated facilities will help us provide more resources to our students so they can find their own direction and later become leaders and innovators in Jacksonville and beyond,” UNF President Moez Limayem said in a news release.
The expansion will add 21,660 square feet of space and connect UNF Building 42 with Building 10. The expanded space will be used for labs, classrooms including The Regency Centers classroom, the Stellar Student Lounge, faculty offices and conference rooms. It will house the Crowley Center for Transportation and Logistics.
The second floor of Building 10 will be renovated for new classrooms, offices and to house Coggin’s Graduate and Executive Education program.
The release said two labs will open in the new space. The Energy Authority Portfolio Management Lab will be used for finance and financial technology students to study market trends and trading. The Behavioral Research Lab will examine consumer behavior, behavioral finance, behavioral economics and management.
The $44.3 million project is funded in part by a $26.3 million public education appropriation from the state Legislature. The balance comprises $7 million in deferred maintenance spending from the state and $11 million from UNF’s carry forward budget.
The Coggin College of Business offers 10 undergraduate programs, seven master’s programs, three graduate certificates and five undergraduate minors. It also offers study abroad, international dual degrees, internships, executive education and badges.
Those offerings include two new graduate programs: a Master of Science in FinTech program began enrolling students this fall. The Master of Science in Business Analytics program started in 2021 and has seen enrollment quadruple since the program began.
Coggin also recently expanded its Executive Education program that offers customized programming in executive training and development for large corporations and small businesses around the region.
When UNF began classes in 1972, the campus comprised four major buildings and three colleges: Business Administration, Arts and Sciences and Education.
The College of Business Administration, Building 42, was built in 1996 and was named the Coggin College of Business in 2002 after the late Jacksonville business leader and UNF supporter Luther W. Coggin.
The university said it has awarded 28,800 business degrees, about 24% of the total 122,488 degrees awarded since the first class graduated.